Love Her For That
by Gray Eyed Fighter
Summary: Neal reflects on his friendship with Kel as she lies dying. Response to review up! RR luv ya!
1. Love Her For That

DISCLAIMER: **I luv all my reviewers, but none of it's mine, (except I want Neal so badly). The song is Teddy Thompson's **_Love Her For That_** luv ya!**

As the unconcious form of the second Lady Knight in centuries was carried into the infirmary at New Hope, a tired green eyed healer rushed over.

Nealan of Queenscove was shocked to see his best friend lying there, looking so helpless, face white and pained. Kneeling beside her, he removed the bandage on her side carefully, then cried out in horror at what he saw.

There was a gaping wound on Keladry of Mindelan's torso. As he fellt it with green glowing hands, a tear trickled down his face. The arrow that had pierced her had been poisoned. After an hour of lying on the ground before anyone found her, there was nothing he could do at this point

**She's a feeler and I love her for that**

**No matter how long I will always come back**

He had seen many of his friends suffer in this gods forsaken war with Scanra, but none had hurt him so deeply. As much as he tried to deny it, he knew in his heart that he was in love with her. Yuki had been a cover, to convince himself that his feeling for Kel were merely those of a friend. Now as he gazed upon her pale and broken body, the truth had come back to slap him in the face.

They had always shared a special bond. One that was more than friends, but not quite lovers. He had always admired her for everything she did, and hoped in his heart that she felt the same way about him.

**There's a bond that we share, it will always be there**

**She may be holding but I love her for that**

He sat beside her, doing everything he could to make her suffer less, remembering everything he could about the woman before him. The way she hid all of her emotions behind the mask that he had admired and had driven him insane. The way she always put everyone else before herself. The look of determination on her face when she set out to rescue the refugees. The way she took everything that life threw at her, and defeated it.

As tears began to stream down his face, his mind turned to the trivial aspect of Kel, that he had always laughed about before, but now pained him to remember. The way she had helped him with his math problems as a page. The way she always told him to eat his vegetables. The way she had always listened patiently to his gods awful poetry, when all of the other pages had yelled at him. The way her beautiful hazel eye sparkled with laughter when she looked at him.

**There are reasons that I'm out here so far**

**Blows are weaker from an ocean apart**

He remembered how they had drifted apart after their Ordeals. How had that happened? They had been best friends and inseparable as pages and squires, even though he was squire to the Lioness. Why had they stopped talking and writing to each other? He hadn't even told her when his first child was born. That was the sort of things that best friends told each other.

**And I guess I could run from my place in the sun**

**She wouldn't let me, and I love her for that**

By now his eyes were red, and the tears wouldn't come anymore. He remembered all of the times he had considered abandoning his knight training, but had always held on, just for her. She had always made him believe that he could pull through, even when she didn't believe it herself.

Lifting his head, he gazed at her silent, still face, cursing the gods for doing this to her, to him, to everyone. He prayed to the Black God, begging him not to take Kel. He knew that he couldn't live with out her strong presence with him.

**And oh you steal her**

**You love her and deceive her**

**She did nothing so wrong, so wrong**

The door of the infirmary opened quietly, and all of Kel's friends filed in slowly. Neal was amazed at how many people cared for her. Most of them were silently crying for the Lady Kinght. He counted Yuki, Shinko, Alanna, Raoul, Dom, Daine, Owen, Roald, Merric, Cleon, Seaver, Faleron, Esmond, even Flyndan, Qasim, Wolset and Lerant from the Own. The stood around the door, to give Neal and Kel room.

**Voice of angels, ended quick by his knife**

**Bonds are broken between a man and his wife**

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared in the corner of the room. A hooded figure approached the bed. Despite Neal's tears and pleading, the Black God extended a hand to the still form of Kel.

As her chest ceased to rise and fall, a silver shadow rose from the bed. It looked like a faded image of Kel, able to be distinguished, but transparent, an only retaining the seeming of a figure. It turned towards the crowd, and gazed at them all in turn, Then she smiled.

"Thank you all."

With that she placed a hand in the god's dark one, and was lost.

**And the songs that are left to remind of the theft**

**She'll let you sing them, and I love her for that**


	2. Thank you!

Thank you to my first two reviewers! This was my first story ever, and I'm so happy that you liked it enough to comment.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**pinkie: **Thank you for the comment! I wish Neal could've told her, but that's the way the plot bunnies work. Maybe I'll write a version witha a slightly different ending. I don't know, I kind of liked this. Anyways thank you so much for the review.

**luv ya!**

**The ORIGINAL Meathead: **I know it's sad, but that's the way I wrote it. I was reading a few other stories where Neal gets to tell Kel how he feels before she dies, which gives the reader a sense of statisfaction (that he confessed, not that she died) but I like well written tragedy, where things are left unfulfilled. I do like happy stuff, don't get me wrong, but I think that well written angst is good. I read your TP story. Keep writing, I loved it.

**luv ya!**

**moonlightrider: **Thank you so much for your review. I'm so happy you liked it. I didn't want to write about how Kel died, heroically or not, because the main focus of the fic was Neal, not Kel. I think that if I had written that Kel had maybe died tragically saving the realm of Tortall from Scanrans, or something, then it would take away from the focus on Neal. My idea was that I write about how sad he is, as opposed to how brave and heroic she is. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. As to the Yuki thing, usually I like Yuki, but I was thinking that faced with a dying Kel, Neal wouldn't really be thinking straight, and could misinterpret his devastation at the death of his best friend as love. I guess you could look at it however you want.

**luv ya!**

**Erkith:** Thanx for the review. I always appreciate people just saying that they like my work, even without any comments on it. Thank you for that. By the way, I read your profile. I'm Canadian too. I read your stories. Awesome.

**luv ya!**

**Also read my other story: "Destiny" and review.**

**Anna**


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